


Farewell

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s02e03 The Midterms, Pre-Episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-05-01
Updated: 2003-05-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 06:24:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15113645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: 'This didn't used to happen at my old job,' she said quietly, with a half-smirk, to try to hide the fact that she was as scared as anyone else.





	Farewell

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**Farewell**  
**by:** Kasey

**Character(s):** Josh, Mandy  
**Category(s):** TAKES PLACE: between ITSo2G and Midterms, explanation of Mandy's vanishment  
**Rating:** TEEN  
**Disclaimer:** Don't own 'em, please don't sue.  
**Summary:** 'This didn't used to happen at my old job,' she said quietly, with a half-smirk, to try to hide the fact that she was as scared as anyone else.  


She waited until everyone else was back at the office before she went to the hospital. 

For one thing, she'd never felt like part of their group - maybe in the very beginning of the campaign, but not since then, especially not lately, after the memo and everything... 

And for another, there were things she wanted to say to Josh that she wasn't about to say to anyone else. 

Namely: Goodbye. 

She found him in his room, in his bed, staring up at the television screen mounted at an angle at the ceiling. It was tuned to CNN, and he was mumbling under his breath about idiocy. "Hey," she said quietly, knocking on the door frame. 

His head snapped toward her. "Mandy," he said, more than a little surprised. 

"Can I come in?" 

"Yeah - pull up a chair or something." 

"Thanks." She entered and slid the chair near the bed, sitting uneasily. "How ya feeling?" 

"Aw, Madeline, you were worried? How sweet?" 

"Stop being an ass, Josh, how do you feel?" 

He smiled a little. "Never change, do ya?" 

"Josh-" 

"I feel like a truck ran over me, Mandy, what do ya want from me?" 

"A little love wouldn't hurt." 

"What the hell?" When she just smiled and shook his head, Josh asked "Why are you here?" 

"I came to see how you were doing." 

"You haven't been here since it happened two days ago, what made you decide to come now?" 

"And I came to say goodbye." 

"I'm not dying, at least not today and probably not tomorrow, the new set of lungs are apparently doing well, so sorry to say you're gonna be stuck with me-" 

"I'm moving back to New York." 

He stared at her like she was speaking Latin. "Wha?" 

"You heard me." 

"Why?" 

"Because this is the kind of thing that didn't used to happen at my old job," she said quietly, to try to disguise the fact that she had been as afraid as anyone else. 

"So you're running away?" 

"I'm going to a different job, Josh, that's all." 

"That's crap." 

"Whatever you say." 

"You're running away from the job 'cause of this?" 

"You guys don't need me. Especially after the memo? My resignation's already on Leo's desk, and he's gonna approve it - you guys have been wanting to get rid of me for quite awhile now." 

"It's not true and you know it." 

"Bullshit." 

"Mandy-" 

"Bullshit! Ya cut me outta the loop again! Like you did on the campaign after you dumped me - all of a sudden I wasn't getting the messages - and ya did it again! As soon as Danny got a hold of the memo, boom! - I'm outta the loop." She stared intently at the white bedsheets as she shook her head. "I've gotta go. And plus..." She trailed off. 

"Plus what?" 

"Nevermind." 

"Madeline." 

"I think you should quit, too." 

He just stared at her. "No way in hell." 

"Josh, I'm not kidding. One of these days it's gonna happen again. And you won't live forever." 

"You kidding? Of course I will," he shot back in a macabre tone. "I always live forever." 

"Seriously." 

"Mandy." He looked her right in the eye. "I'm spending the next however many weeks recovering from this stupid fluke, at which point I'm going back to work because I serve at the pleasure of the President - I don't serve at the pleasure of whenever I damn well please." 

"Well, he hasn't been too pleased with me lately." 

"Did you come here to bolster your confidence and have me make you feel good about yourself? 'Cause if so, you came to the wrong place." 

"Josh..." She sighed. "That's not why I came here." 

"Then why?" 

"To say goodbye...and see for myself that you are indeed alive." 

"You coulda heard that much on the news." 

"Stop being a smartass." 

"Can't help it - it's just part of my charm." 

"Yeah." She smiled faintly and rolled her eyes. 

A nurse stuck her head in the doorway. "I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over...Mr. Lyman needs his rest." 

"'Mr. Lyman needs his rest,'" Josh mocked. "If I had a dollar for every time they said that..." 

"You wouldn't have to work at the White House?" 

"I wouldn't have to...still would, though." 

"Why are you so damn stubborn? You know it's not outside the realm of possibility that this could happen again, and you wouldn't live through a second -" 

"Of all the degrees I knew you had, Madeline, I wasn't aware of your MD." 

"And with all your Ivy League degrees, I didn't know you were so stupid." 

"Yeah, ya did." He smirked. "Ya always told me." 

"I didn't mean it." 

"Yeah ya did." He shrugged awkwardly, for he was still lying in his hospital bed, an IV in his arm. 

"I should go..." 

"You should stay at work is what you should do." 

"And since when do I do what I should?" Josh grinned in response. "Exactly." There was an awkward silence. "So I, um, guess this is goodbye..." 

"Yeah. Bye. Whatever." 

"What?" she demanded. 

"What do you want from me, Mandy?" 

"I don't know," she admitted quietly. 

"So go then." 

"Yeah." Slowly, she stood, then gently brushed his hair back as she turned to leave, never looking back. 


End file.
